Imperial Qing Navy
History The history of the modern Imperial Navy begins with a series of humiliating defeats at the hands of foreign powers over trading rights in the mid-1800s. It soon became clear that the Chinese military was powerless to stop enemy warships from ranging its coasts and waterways at will; even small gunboats could fight their way past local defense forces with confidence of success. The overwhelming naval superiority of Western powers led to a series of unfavorable treaties and concessions accepted by the Qing government. Correcting this situation was a top priority for the Self-Strengthening Movement. Of the surge of customs revenue from the opening years of the program, much was directed into the construction of military shipyards and the purchase of foreign warships. Of particular interest were a series of German-built armored cruisers of up to seven thousand tons, which served as the flagships of the imperial fleet. These ships were designed to be a match for any individual European warship likely to be fielded in Chinese waters, and were largely successful at this role. They were backed by a large force of lighter cruisers, gunboats, and torpedo boats. Despite serious reverses in the 1882-83 Sino-Bourbon War, by 1890 the Chinese fleet was ranked as seventh best in the world, and was taken very seriously in the calculations of anyone proposing to interfere in Chinese affairs. At the outset of the Sino-Wa War of 1894, China's main naval force, the Beiyang Fleet based in Tientsin, was the largest single concentration of naval power in Asia. On paper it had great superiority over the Wa fleet opposing it, especially in heavy guns. But a series of naval battles showed major weaknesses in the Beiyang Fleet. A lack of government upkeep funding had left the fleet poorly maintained, morale was low, and corrupt officials selling supplies on the black market reduced the ships' combat effectiveness. Within four months, the great majority of China's capital ships had been sunk or captured by Wa. This humiliation provoked a major shift in naval strategy. Much of the prewar leadership was executed or dismissed in disgrace. While efforts to replace the destroyed capital ships proceeded during the postwar era, the focus of the Imperial Navy changed from using medium and heavy combatants to deter intervention by Western powers and toward defending the coastline against the larger Wa navy. As a consequence, much of the Chinese naval force is focused on light combatants designed to harass enemy ships operating close to the Chinese coast. The Chinese battleline is distinctly second-rate, with no capital ships commissioned and designed prior to 1905. The Dreadnought Revolution has caught China by surprise, and they have yet to lay down the keels for domestic-built dreadnoughts or arrange purchase overseas for such. Within those limits, China possesses a fairly capable coast defense force. Their immediate postwar consstruction wave included a number of cruisers, but was heavily biased toward torpedo boats, which could be build quickly in great numbers to restore China's naval deterrent against enemy capital ships. Torpedo boat construction slowed to a halt in 1901, when Chinese naval attaches began reporting on the alarming rise of turbine-engined "torpedo boat destroyers" that could reliably intercept and destroy conventional steam-powered torpedo boats. Since that point, the Chinese government has canceled mass torpedo boat production plans and begun more gradual construction of a series of more modern "destroyers." Further investigation on the subject of submersible torpedo boats inspired the purchase of a number of models from Roman and Pacifican yards, as well. The capital ship force consists mainly of home-built cruisers and foreign-built battleships. Notable exceptions include a pair of very modern light cruisers built at Pacifica's famous Union Iron Works, as well as the latest additions to China's battleship force. These ships, first conceived in 1904, laid down in 1906, and completed in 1909, can best be described as "semi-dreadnoughts," being highly progressive for a pre-dreadnought design but lacking the all big-gun armament that characterizes a true dreadnought. Naval Order of Battle Predreadnought Battleships: 2x native-built Qianlong-class, completed 1909 2x Roman-built Zeus-class, acquired 1906, built 1902 (compare to historical Swiftsure-class) 2x Pacifican-built'' Ting Yuan''-class, built 1899 to specifications based off Pacifican Magnificent-class (compare to historical Canopus-class) Armored Cruisers: 2x native-built, completed 1905 2x native-built, completed 1901 2x Roman-built, completed 1895 (trials rushed, but did not arrive until after end of Sino-Wa War) Light Cruisers: 2x Pacifican-built light cruisers, completed 1908 2x native-built light cruisers, completed 1902 6x native-built protected cruisers, with Roman technical aid, completed 1896-98 Destroyers: 20x fast torpedo boat destroyers, native-built 1903-9, uniformly turbine-powered Submarines: 4x submersible torpedo boats, Roman-built, completed 1908-9 6x submersible torpedo boats, Pacifican-built, completed 1906-9 Torpedo Boats: 80x coastal torpedo boats, nearly all home-built, vintage varying from 1880s to 1902. Disposition of the Imperial Fleet Beiyang Fleet The Beiyang Fleet is stationed to cover the Yellow Sea against Wa naval incursions. In the late 19th century this fleet was based at Weihai, but during the Sino-Wa War both the fleet and its bases bore the brunt of the Wa offensive. The Wa seizure of the critical naval base at Lüshun (Port Arthur) threatens Weihai, and it proved impractical to hold the city against amphibious landings during the second phase of the war. The bulk of the Beiyang Fleet now anchors at Tientsin, covering the river approaches to Peking, and in easy steaming range of the seaward flank of the border defenses at Qinhuangdao. A third major anchorage is under construction at the port of Tsingtao, one which may prove easier to hold against concerted attack. HQ: Tientsin Qianlong-class pre-dreadnought Kangxi Zeus-class pre-dreadnought Chi Yuan Ting Yuan-class pre-dreadnought Ting Yuan Armored cruiser Ping Yuan 2 light cruisers 8 destroyers 20 torpedo boats HQ: Weihai A substantial force of light torpedo craft remains based at Weihai; because of their relatively short operational range, this base is also used for China's submarine force, which is still in many ways an experimental branch. 20 torpedo boats 10 submarines HQ: Tsingtao Tsingtao likewise harbors a torpedo force; it is not yet prepared to receive capital ships. 2 destroyers 12 torpedo boats Nanyang Fleet This fleet, like the rest of the Shanghai defenses, is meant in large part to overawe Western powers. China's obsolete capital ships tend to weaken the desired effect, but a twelve thousand ton warship remains a twelve thousand ton warship. The fact that it would be easily dismantled by a modern dreadnought is little consolation when the nearest friendly dreadnought is days away (the Imperial Wa Navy) or, more likely, weeks away (the Royal Pacifican Navy). HQ: Shanghai Qianlong-class predreadnought Qianlong Zeus-class predreadnought Chih Yuan Armored cruiser Nan-jui Armored cruiser Nan-ch'en 2 light cruisers 4 destroyers 8 torpedo boats Fujian Fleet Based at Foochow, the Fujian Fleet gained new importance with the loss of Taiwan to Wa during the Sino-Wa War. However, the Navy's heavy capital ships are judged to be more urgently needed on other stations. HQ: Foochow (Fuzhou) Armored cruiser Ping Yuan Armored cruiser Lai Yuan 4 light cruisers 2 destroyers 12 torpedo boats Guangdong Fleet This fleet's main mission is to patrol the waters around Hainan and act as a first line of defense against naval sorties from the Empire of Vietnam. While unlike the Fujian Fleet it at least merits a battleship flagship in the eyes of the Chinese admiralty, politically it is a backwater command, and its ships are generally older and less capable than those in the other fleets. HQ: Canton (Guangzhou) Ting Yuan-class predreadnought Chen Yuan Armored cruiser Ching Yuan 2 light cruisers 4 destroyers 8 torpedo boats